Politics and Violence in Central America and the Caribbean

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 1-24

3. Political Economy and/or Culture? Theorizing Forms of Violence

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 25-57

4. The Roots of Current Violence: Historical Comparative Perspectives on El Salvador, Jamaica, and Belize, 1500–1980

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 59-126

5. El Salvador: Transnationalization by Polarization and the Re-emergence of Violence

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 127-161

6. Jamaica: Transnationalization by Force and the Transformation of Violence

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 163-195

7. Belize: Transnationalization by Coincidence and the Rise of Violence

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 197-232

8. Forms of Violence in Comparative Perspective

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 233-260

9. The Cultural Political Economy of Violence: A Conclusion

   • Hannes Warnecke-Berger

   Pages 261-277

10. Back Matter

    Pages 279-281

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This book develops a comparative study on violence in Jamaica, El Salvador, and Belize based on a theoretical approach, extensive field research, and in-depth empirical research. It combines the Caribbean and Central America into a single comparative research that explores the historical (from the conquista onwards) as well as contemporary causes of violence in these societies. The volume focuses on forms of violence such as gang violence, police violence, every day forms of violence, vigilantism, and organized crime. The analysis provides a theoretical perspective that bridges political economy as well as cultural approaches in violence research. As such, it will be of interest to readers studying development, violence, political, Central American, and Caribbean studies.

• Violence
• Latin America
• the Caribbean
• Belize
• Jamaica
• El Salvador
• latin american politics

“This is a most accomplished study of a sadly and increasingly salient issue. It is never easy to conduct meaningful research on violence, and to do so in a comparative manner across distinctive societies and experience is an impressive achievement. Hannes Warnecke-Berger has made a really important contribution to the debate, and his study deserves a wide audience.” (James Dunkerley, Professor, Queen Mary University of London, UK)

“The academic community will highly welcome this book because it overcomes the dichotomy both between economy and culture and between causes and forms of violence. Both dichotomies characterize the current theory-inspired empirical research on violence. Area experts will be pleased about the comparative perspective on Central America and the Caribbean, which is still unusual in research on violence. It is an innovative, theoretically inspiring and empirically detailed investigated work from the younger generation of both research on violence and research on Latin America. I raise my hat!” (Heidrun Zinecker, Professor Emeritus, University of Leipzig, Germany)

• University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

  Hannes Warnecke-Berger

Hannes Warnecke-Berger is Senior Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre 1199 “Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition” and member of the Institute of Political Science at University of Leipzig, Germany.

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